Wichita, Kansas

Sitting at the forks of the Arkansas River, the area that became Wichita served not only as the home of much [Page 685]of the West's vast bison population; it eventually became an Indian trading center. This status became more important as the white Americans moved westward and eventually deemed present-day Oklahoma as Indian Territory. The Wichita area's close proximity to the Kansas-Oklahoma border continued to support its importance for trade, and it only increased once Indians were pushed out of eastern Kansas toward Oklahoma. Wichita stood at the crux of all of this activity when the territory was opened for settlement in 1868.

One of the first recorded instances of a white man spending any time in the area was Jess Chisholm's stop there in 1836 as he led a party of gold seekers to find gold that was rumored to have been buried by the Spanish. They quickly found, however, that the story was not true and returned home. That same year, surveyors for the government began arriving in the area as the United States signed more treaties and moved the Indians farther westward.

It was not until the 1850s that more white men began arriving in the Wichita area. First, they were interested in the lucrative trade with the Indian tribes. Other recent migrants were interested in farming or trading with the eastern United States. Trading, along with hunting, were the major lures for these white residents, since they could earn a profit without having to deal with the vague interpretations of Indian control of the land. The Civil War briefly interrupted settlement of the area but trading and hunting resumed with vigor after the national conflict ended. The Chisholm Trail further cemented Wichita's status as a trading center. By the 1870s, Wichita was finally considered a town. In 1872, the cattle trade hit a high point before cattle prices declined during the national panic and depression. Wichita's location between the cattle resources of Texas and hungry easterners put it in a prime position during this boom.

Wichita experienced some subtle social changes in the late 1870s. As historian Craig Miner points out, there is evidence of an attempt to more fully integrate blacks into the town's society. The 1878 census showed that there were 43 black men, 42 black women, and 62 black children living among the town's population of 4,209. Church services exclusively for blacks began in August 1877, and political organization among African Americans was also being encouraged, as the city's predominant Republicans assumed that blacks would join them when they exercised their recently won right to vote. City newspapers even carried accounts of black political meetings. While somewhat condescending, these press accounts at least noted that black political activity existed in Wichita. The Wichita Beacon acknowledged the first interracial marriage and asserted that a local judge could find no law banning it, and that if the woman's parents approved, the marriage should be accepted by the rest of the community.

Wichita's population, however, became more diverse during the 1870s. Approximately one third of the cattle trail drivers were black or Mexican, and some settled with their families in the city of Wichita. More important, the Great Exodus of 1879–1880 (the black emigrants of which were called Exodusters) presented a challenge and an opportunity to Kansas as a state. Governor St. John firmly believed that blacks escaping the post-Reconstruction South should be welcomed into Kansas and that their numbers would eventually prove beneficial to the state. Not all city leaders agreed, however, and some attempted to prevent increased black migration to Wichita.

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